At Pirelli's restaurant in Rome, chef Barbara Lynch ate what was, for her, the perfect carbonara: The sauce was bright yellow from fresh eggs, and each rigatoni hid cubes of fatty guanciale. In Boston, where Lynch has five restaurants, she set out to master the dish. Her yolk-heavy recipe is beyond creamy—without cream!—with a heady mix of peppercorns (you can substitute black pepper for all and it's still great). It's unlike any clumpy carbonaras you've had. The tricks? She omits most of the egg whites; their water thins the sauce. Too much cheese overthickens it, so she gradually adds Pecorino while tossing the pasta until she hits the right consistency (the sauce should be loose enough to drag the pasta through). Lynch was right: It's a pasta worth mastering. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Recipe Preparation

Cook guanciale in a large skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fat renders but guanciale is not browned, about 5 minutes. Pour into a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl; reserve drippings. Transfer guanciale to a large bowl and let cool slightly. Add egg yolks and egg to bowl; whisk to blend.

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Reviews

You know, I'm not generally a fan of fussy measured-by-weight rather than volume ingredient listings, but with grated cheese, it just makes sense. It's sold and packaged by weight. It's much easier to simply eyeball your half pound hunk of cheese and grate off 1/4 pound (for example) than to grate it and stuff it into a measuring cup.

AnonymousBoston10/05/18

I have made this so many times with using bacon. It really is the best. Easy and quick to make.

bibimbab06/14/18

Easy peezy carbonara yummyara. Agree w/ NYC Alex. Made once exact to recipe- delish. Just made again w/ twists: bacon, once rendered - 1 tsp fat to cook on high 1/4" cubed 1 sm zucchini & 1 sm yellow squash till starting to brown, then kernels of 1 ear of corn. I could see tossing in some cherry tomatoes at the end to make a blt+c carbonara subbing Z for L.

sweetpea7San Francisco06/01/18

This is the best starter carbonara recipe. Make sue your eggs are room temperature before you whisk them in. It will minimize clump-age. Clump-age = egg clumps, btw.